Our Reporter
Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, has refuted claims that payment of over $16 million was made to lawyers working with the Federal government on the recovery of Abacha’s loot from the Swiss government.
The Minister refuting the claim in a statement issued by Oluyinka Akintunde, his Media Assistant on Tuesday dissociated herself and the Ministry of Finance from the claim in some section of the media that fees were paid to two lawyers for the recovery of Abacha funds.
Acording to the statement sent to THE IMPACT, it stated that, “The attention of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has been drawn to false media reports of a “strongly-worded letter to the President” objecting to the payment of $16.9 million fees to two lawyers for the recovery of Abacha funds”
“The Minister wishes to dissociate herself and the Federal Ministry of Finance from recent malicious and misleading media reports on the Abacha refunds. The Minister had at no time written any letter to the President or any member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the payment of lawyers for the Abacha recovery.
She also refuted the flawed media reports of controversy surrounding the Abacha recovery, disclosing that the sum of US$322,515,931.83 was received into a Special Account in the Central Bank of Nigeria on December 18, 2017 from the Swiss Government.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no controversy concerning the recovery of the Abacha monies from the Swiss Government” she stated in the statement.
